A/N: I BEG FORGIVENESS!

I'm sorry I haven't updated any of my ficts lately. To say my life's been hectic is an understatement. But now that summer is here, I'm going to try to get more posted. I promise!

Another thing: I am not too happy with the way this chapter turned out. It's not my best, but it's not the worst. It's a bit boring, but bear with me everyone. The next chapter that this leads up to will (hopefully) be more interesting.

THANK YOU FOR STICKING WITH ME!

--Special Thanks To--

Aurora M. Tepes: Thank you for beta-reading this chapter and offering to beta my other stories. And also, just so you know, after I sent this doc. to you, I lost it. So when you sent it back, you saved me from having to re-write this whole chapter. -hands a plate of homemade brownies- THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Same disclamers as always. Sorry this is such a long A/N.

Lesson Seventeen: How to Have a Sleep Over

Landlord's View: Helen

One week ago, I received a very strange call, from (of all people) Lilith

Chiaki, Vice President of Shinra Manufacturing.

My immediate response was asking if Zel was dead.

She said "almost."

I was joking.

She wasn't.

Zel, I swear to Gaia, if you come back alive, I'll never make you pay rent again!

I'd never really noticed how quiet this place was without Zel pounding up the stairs or knocking on my door at three o'clock in the morning, asking for another key.

I'll face it. Zel may be an ex-Dog and a Turk, but I think of that kid as my own son.

I'll face it. I miss that blonde haired hurricane.

I cleaned up his house for him, restocked his refrigerator, had the random broken pieces of furniture, replaced and exchanged his couch with a futon so he could actually sleep on it, for, by the look of his room, it had been taken over by that little girl of whom he'd "acquired."

There I sat, hands clasped, waiting in his house, at his table. I guess that was how a real mother would feel if she was told her son was dying.

I guess I was sobbing so hard that I didn't hear the door open.

"Helen?" I looked up at him, astonished. One week and one day. One week and one day…and he…he…

"Zel!" I jumped to my feet and bear hugged the little stickman. He didn't stop me; in fact, he hugged me back. "I missed you, Turk! Why'd you have to go and get yourself shot?" He winced and let me go, smiling sheepishly.

"It's what I do," he replied.

"How much of a bonus did ya get?" I asked playfully. He smiled and shrugged as he sat down at the chair I had just vacated.

"Thanks for watching the place while I was out," he said. His voice sounded lost, his eyes distracted and distant.

"Where's the little girl, Zel?" I asked, suddenly noticing the little red-headed child was absent. Oh no, she can't be…!

"Shera's with Riley. I thought it would be better off that way, at least for tonight. Not to worry, she's fine." He rubbed his neck self consciously.

I knew something was wrong.

"Zel, do you need to talk to someone?" I asked, touching his shoulder.

He jerked slightly and looked up at me. His eyes were red and moist. How didn't

I notice this before? He's been crying.

"Why am I such a fucked up individual, Helen?" he asked me.

I started to fix some tea. Something told me I'd be here awhile.

Shera's View

"Okay, so Aaron has this thing that, when he meets new people, he's really shy. Like, so shy that all he does is try to blend into the wall and he won't say anything. But trust me, he's really nice. He loves people and would never do a thing to hurt one, ya know? Which is ironic, because…er, never mind," Riley looked over at me, smiling. I smiled back at her, laughing slightly. Mr. Aaron sounded a bit like Master Zel; neither of them liked attention. And they were both nice (I was going off of what Riley said, but something told me that was a safe bet).

"Sorry I'm just rambling on and on," Riley apologized, looking back at the road.

"Sorry I'm so quiet," I replied. "I've just never ridden in a car before." Well, that was a lie. But the last time I rode in one of these things...well, it wasn't really pleasant. Something told me she saw right through my lie.

"The first time doesn't count, does it? You were with Shitface, weren't you?" Riley asked darkly, her grip on the wheel tightening.

"Riley?" I whimpered (how'd she know? I assumed "Shitface" was referring to Master Kiev).

"Yup?" she replied brightly. I stared at her for a moment; then I just shook my head. These "Turks" were weird people.

"The truth is, I've never heard of this thing called 'sleeping over.' Is it fun?"

"Yeah, tons!"

"But what about your husband? Is he okay with this? I don't want him feeling awkward because I'm around," I said.

"First of all, Aaron isn't my husband (I wish he was). In fact, we're not even engaged. And second of all, he'll get over his shyness really quickly, don't worry. He'll be back to his normal goofy self in no time."

"Okay," I replied and said no more, because we'd reached Riley's house. It was an actual house, too, unlike Master's. It was a nice, two story house. And when I say "nice," I mean it looked better than its dark and dismal surroundings. The sign above the door said "Sector 2 Weapons."

"Aaron owns the shop and lives above. So he never has to leave the house to go to work," Riley explained as she got out of the car. I unbuckled and jumped out my side.

"Riley!" a voice called, and we both looked up at the second story window. A black haired head with bright blue eyes looked down at us…well, at Riley. I was still behind the car, happily hidden. "You're home early!"

"Hey Aaron!" Riley yelled back, waving.

"Hang on a sec, I'll be right down," Aaron's head disappeared from the window and it, along with the rest of his body, appeared in the doorway. He was toweling dry his hair.

"Aw, did I ruin your shower?" Riley teased, walking up and kissing his nose.

"Nope, just finished actually. What's the occasion?" he asked, smiling.

"Lilith gave me the rest of the day off," Riley shrugged.

"Oh, so you're home at six like normal people, unlike three in the morning, like Turks."

"Stop complaining or I'll go back and work overtime."

"I kid, I kid. Welcome home," Aaron gave her a hug. And then caught sight of me. "Riley, who's that?" he pointed at me, blushing slightly.

"Oh, Aaron, this is Shera. Shera, this is my boyfriend/roomie, Aaron Finelli," Riley introduced as I crept out from behind the car. He looked at me for a moment and smiled nervously.

"Uh...nice to meet you." He then turned to Riley again. "Okay, but who is she, Riley? I mean, this isn't...work related, is it?"

"Nope," Riley said, walking past Aaron and into the house. "Come on, Shera! Let's get this sleep over started."

"Sleep over?" Aaron asked, looking after Riley and then back at me. "What's this?"

"Um, I'm not exactly sure either, Mr. Finelli," I replied. He looked at me and sighed.

"Riley, what are you up to now?" he muttered. "Well, Shera, come on in. And call me Aaron please." He smiled and waved me in.

"Okay." I walked in after him as he walked into the house. He led me up the stairs and into the living quarters of the building. Riley was already there, raiding the refrigerator. Aaron gestured for me to sit down and pushed Riley gently out of the way.

"I'll cook, you sit down," he said quietly. Riley shrugged and sat down next to me.

"See, told ya he was shy," she said to me. Aaron rolled his eyes.

"I'm not shy! I'm just really confused right now."

Aaron Finelli's View

Of all the things Riley brings home, she totes in a child. No, I'm not saying that I don't like children or anything. It's just that I'm still getting used to Riley's crazy lifestyle. I mean, I never know where she is or when she's going to be home or if she's going to come home.

But I love her, so I'll deal with it. I'll just ask questions, accept the vague answers, and move on. Just like always.

Somewhere, Jake is laughing at me. Stupid brother.

"What's the deal here, Riley?" I asked. Riley had just shown little Shera how to use the shower (okay, what?) and we were now sitting on the couch, waiting for who knows what. Riley looked over at me, sighing. "Where did this all come from? I mean, if you can't answer me, then whatever."

"Her name really is Shera," Riley replied. Oh well, it's a start. "Um, she's the product of the slavering mission I vaguely told you about two weeks ago."

"I see. And...?"

"Thank you for letting me use your shower, Riley, Aaron." Shera walked back into the room, fully dressed and smiling. "I forgot to ask Master if he had one." Master?! "Riley! What is going on here?" I asked, jumping up. This was getting way to weird. I'm a natural born slum-rat, okay? I know what's what, and a nine year old girl calling anyone Master is just plain wrong.

"Woah, calm down Aaron, I can explain," Riley said. Shera just shrunk away. And Riley explained.

The tale made me feel sick. And feel extremely bad for Zel (man, that poor kid has a lot of issues).

Silence, mind numbing silence was what followed. So, with the crushing guilt of asking the wrong question, I did my best to set it right.

"Hey, you came over for a sleep over, didn't you? So I better skip out, huh?"

"Why?" Shera asked. I smiled.

"Sleep overs are girl things. I'm a guy, so I don't fit in here," I nodded to her. She cocked her head, as if she was confused, but said nothing else. I shrugged and headed out the door. "I'll be downstairs if you need anything, Riley." I waved and left them alone.

Riley's View

"Okay, now that Aaron's gone, let's get this party started," I said, smiling. Well, this hadn't gone as planned, but whatever. Best make this enjoyable. "Okay, what do you want to do first? Play board games, tell scary stories, do makeovers? It's your choice."

"Um...what are all those?" she asked me. I sighed and shook my head. Poor deprived child…

"Let's just get started."

Shera's View

I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical about this whole sleep over thing. But, I really enjoyed myself.

The board games were fun. I loved the one called "Monopoly" because I was really good at that one. And Riley taught me how to play chess, which she said was Master's favorite board game (I wonder if he'll play me in it sometime?).

I didn't like the scary stories. Riley was too good at telling them, and I wasn't good at all. She ended up laughing at all of mine, and then apologizing afterwards.

The make-over thing was fun too. Riley showed me how to do my nails and hair and make-up. It reminded me of the girls back in the cells, and how nice they were. They always tried to teach me stuff like this.

By the end of the night, Riley said it was okay if I called her "Onee-chan," which means "big sister" in Wutianese. I was so happy that I hugged her for five minutes. I'm serious. Then Aaron came upstairs and Riley made him join in on the hug.

And we gave him a make-over too.

Now I'm going to sleep.

Riley and Aaron's View

"Well, that was interesting," Aaron said, walking out of the spare bedroom. Riley closed the door behind them after taking one last look at the sleeping form of Shera.

"Look, I'm sorry about all this. Zel needs some time alone, and he really if he's taking care of her. How do you teach someone to be normal when there is no such thing?" Riley asked.

"I have no idea," Aaron confessed. He sighed as he watched Riley prepare for bed herself. "You're going to bed early."

"Long day," she replied.

"I'll bet." Riley came out of the bathroom in her pajamas and headed towards their shared bedroom. Aaron went through his checks of the house: all lights off? All doors and windows locked? Knife under pillow, sword under bed, etc.? Then he followed Riley and laid down next to her. "Something tells me that your night didn't go as planned."

"How'd you guess?" Riley joked. Aaron shrugged and shifted so he was looking at the ceiling.

"Truth is, I was going to try to use Shera to convince you that we should have a kid," Riley replied bluntly. Aaron blushed but said nothing. "But I've changed my mind. Not about the having a kid thing, mind you. No, about Shera...I hate to say this, but I'd like to use her for a different purpose."

"Riley, I don't approve of you using anyone for anything," he scolded. "Especially not a nine year old girl."

"It would be with her consent, of course," Riley replied somberly.

"What did you have in mind?"

"I wanted to use her to try to get River and Zel together." Aaron sat up and stared at her for a moment.

"After what happened, you still want to put two opposing ends of a magnet together?"

"Yup. I'm a Turk. I'm gonna make those two ends stick, even if it means defying nature." She sat up and kissed his cheek tenderly. "So, will you help me?"

Aaron thought for awhile and finally consented. Let's face it, he could never say no to Riley.

"What do you need me to do?" he asked.

A/N: I swear, the next chapter WILL be better! Thank you for reading. Comments/Questions/Flames/Reviews/Critism/Ideas always welcome!